Babysitter
Salary

Most Babysitters in the United States are women. The median pay for people in this role is approximately $9.86 per hour. Job satisfaction for Babysitters is high. Less than five percent report receiving medical and dental coverage from their employers and fewer than one in twenty collect vision insurance. The data for this snapshot was collected from individuals who took PayScale's salary survey.

XTotal Pay combines base annual salary or hourly wage, bonuses, profit sharing, tips, commissions, overtime pay and other forms of cash earnings, as applicable for this job. It does not include equity (stock) compensation, cash value of retirement benefits, or the value of other non-cash benefits (e.g. healthcare).

XTotal Pay combines base annual salary or hourly wage, bonuses, profit sharing, tips, commissions, overtime pay and other forms of cash earnings, as applicable for this job. It does not include equity (stock) compensation, cash value of retirement benefits, or the value of other non-cash benefits (e.g. healthcare).

Job Description for Babysitter

A babysitter provides care to children while their parents or guardians are away. Babysitters largely work part time and care for only one or two children in a given week. They may work in their own home or in the home of the family for whom the service is provided; a babysitter called in to watch over children for a few hours in an evening normally works in the client's home. Sitters may also provide care for pre-kindergarten children during the day while parents work perform work in their home.

Parents typically have explicit instructions for the child or children to be cared for, including any dietary restrictions, medical needs, and preferred activities. For older children, the parents may also specify homework responsibilities and bedtime arrangements. A babysitter should always consult with the parents to know any specific requirements, emergency instructions, and contact numbers. While a child or children are in the babysitter’s care, the sitter should expect to be completely occupied with watching and interacting with their charges. If anything of any particular note takes place while the child is under the sitter’s care - but is not serious enough to immediately contact the parents and/or emergency services - the sitter must document it and make the parents aware.

In most situations, the requirements to be a babysitter are not governed by official regulations. For the most part, a babysitter should be expected to keep references to be presented in an interview with parents. In many jurisdictions, the number of children and hours that they can be cared for is somewhat regulated, and babysitters who find themselves moving into full-time care may need to seek some sort of formal certification in child care or child development.

Babysitter Tasks

Select appropriate activities and follow feeding and sleep schedules.

Respond to injuries, emergencies and hygiene needs.

Interact with and entertain a child or children during designated time frame.

Clean and organize around the house.

Common Career Paths for Babysitter

Plan your career path. Drag job titles to investigate a particular path and click on a link to see where particular career can lead.

Babysitters who go on to become Registered Nurses may see their salaries climb quite a bit. Median pay for Registered Nurses is $55K annually. Becoming a Nanny or Aupair or a Daycare Teacher is a common transition from a Babysitter role.

Babysitter Job Listings

Search for more jobs:

This chart shows the most popular skills for this job and what effect each skill has on pay.

Pay by Experience Level for Babysitter

Median of all compensation (including tips, bonus, and overtime) by years of experience.

The average worker who claims fewer than five years of experience earns around $20K. In contrast, however, individuals who report five to 10 years in this occupation see a much larger median of $21K. On average, Babysitters make $21K following one to two decades on the job. Babysitters who surpass 20 years on the job report pay that isn't higher than those with 10 to 20 years.